1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,288 discloses a connector with a housing that has an elastically flexible locking arm for holding the connector in a fit-in state with a mating connector. A slider is mounted on the locking arm and is movable in the longitudinal direction of the locking arm between a wait position and a detection position. The slider is locked to the locking arm and is held at the wait position in the process of fitting the mating connector in the housing. The slider is unlocked from the locking arm and can move to the detection position when the mating connector is fit in the housing in the normal state. Therefore it is possible to know whether the normal fit-in position has been reached by checking whether the slider can be moved to the detection position.
The housing has a movement prevention portion. The front portion of the slider slips into the movement prevention portion and is locked thereto when the slider has reached the detection position. Thus, the slider is prevented from moving up, and the locking arm is prevented from elastically flexing in the unlocking direction.
The slider of the above-described connector is locked to the movement prevention portion almost simultaneously with the arrival of the slider at the detection position. Thus, there is a possibility that the slider will not be locked favorably to the movement prevention portion when the slider is displaced. Accordingly, the locking arm may flex accidentally in the unlocking direction when the slider is not locked correctly to the movement prevention portion and when the slider is locked to the locking arm in a small region or to a low extent.
The invention has been completed in view of the above-described situation, and it is an object of the invention to hold the locking state of a locking arm securely.